Commonly Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases

[amileegirl]

A post inspired by a journal by Joyeaustin who gave a reminder on the correct use of possessive form "Mom's"  versus the plural form "Moms".    I thought I would add some of my own pet peeves!  :)  

Yes, I spell words wrong.    I am notorious for spelling fancy words wrong.  Got to make mistakes to learn!

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A lot = a whole bunch.   It is two words, not one.   Allot is a word.  It means divide and has two L's. 

"I have alot of stuff."
"I have a lot of stuff."      

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Moot = debatable, disputable, doubtful.    Mute is like the button on the remote to turn the sound off :)

"A mute point."
"A moot point."      

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Ridiculous = absurd.     Rediculous is a non-word, though it might be an iculous that is red :)

"That's rediculous!
"That's ridiculous!    

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Voila' = (accent on the a).  It's a French derived word so is spelled with French influence.

"Wahlah!  It's done!"
"Voila'! It's done!"  

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c'est la vie' =  That's life!  It's a French derived word so is spelled with French influence.

"Say la vee!"
"C'est la vie!"     

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There, their, they're  =   Three different words and that are not interchangable.

"It's neither here nor there!"     =  There indicates place; it matches with the word HERE!
"They're coming!"                      = They're is a contraction of "they are"; say they are to be sure it fits!
"Do you have their tickets?"     =  Their indicates possession.

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Speak clearly people you will write it correctly!       I know we americans now commonly use "spitting image" becuase  we first dropped off the word and  in our fast speech and said, "spit 'n image"  and then we thought that sounded like a dropped g so we started saying "spittin' image." And, by golly, then people thought they were being so proper putting the g back in and  we started saying "spitting image."          The moral?   There was no -ing ending to begin with!

"He's a  spitting image of his father."
"He's a spit and image of his father."    

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Intent = a goal; aim        intensive = extreme degree; intense

"For all intensive purposes..."
"For all intents and purposes..."    

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Redardless = without regard      -less means without, and -ir means not!  So I guess that means that  irregardless would mean not without regard!?   Ouch...my head....

"I'm doing it  irregardless of the consequences!"
"I'm doing it  regardless of the consequences!"    

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utmost = highest

"I have the  upmost regard for you."
"I have the utmost regard for you."    

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tact = keen sense of what is approrpriate to say or do.   tack = rope on a boat; or a pointy push pin

"That salesperson lacks  tack."
"That salesperson lacks tact."    

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Orient = to direct or adjust position.       Orientation is another word.    It might be funny to say orientate when being silly, but not so funny when you don't mean to use it!

"Where's the map?  I need to  orientate myself."
"Where's the map?  I need to  orient myself!"    

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Recur = to happen again.     Occur = to happen     Reoccur = not a word!.      

"I have a  reoccuring dream."
"I have a recurring dream."    

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espresso = italian word for that noisy machine and jolting drink!      expresso = not a word

"Let's go to that swanky place and order an  expresso ."
"Let's go to that swanky place and order an espresso."    

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Its and It's = breaks the rule for possessive because the apostrophe in this case refers to the contraction already!  To help you remember, if you can say "it is"  in the sentence and have it make sense, you should use the contraction it's.

"Its hot outside."     Its is the possessive form.  We need the contraction form It's = It is
"It's hot outside."     

"It's collar is loose."     It's is the contraction form for it is.   We need the possessive form Its
"Its collar is loose." 

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et cetera = two words.  No x in it!  Hence, the abbreviation etc.       excetra = not a word

[belladonna777]

Jul. 12, 2008 at 1:49 AM YAY!! I love you.   I do not understand why people use these incorrect forms of the English language.  Oh well.  I suppose I never will.